


First Halloween

by lexiecat



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Halloween Swap, Tags Are Hard, some sweetie pies are vaguely mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-06 05:43:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21221537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexiecat/pseuds/lexiecat
Summary: For the Mao Mao Secret Halloween Event created by @maomaosmother over on Tumblr! I had @purplerose244! They asked for some fluff of the Sheriff's dept getting ready for the holiday, with a little bit of angst mixed in. I hope you enjoy!





	First Halloween

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurpleRose244](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleRose244/gifts).

It had been difficult to learn at first, but Mao Mao had nearly become a master at blocking out Badgerclops and Adorabat while he meditated. He had gotten used to hearing them shouting at the tv while they played video games, all of the noises that might bubble out of the kitchen when the two suddenly decided that they needed to bake whatever sweet treat has popped into their minds, and even the quieter moments of Badgerclops snacking and Adorabat humming to herself while she drew. 

But that doesn’t mean his instincts were any less sharp. If anything, Mao Mao was even more aware of when something was out of the ordinary. 

Like, for example, hearing absolutely nothing from the house. Mao Mao squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he tried to listen for any of the usual noises from the house as he sat out in the dojo. He could hear the leaves rustling in the fall breeze… The river near HQ… And even what could be the slight bustle of the kingdom. But from the house… 

Mao Mao’s eyes flew open when he heard, of all noises, a chainsaw revving up. And if that wasn’t concerning enough, Adorabat’s screams. In a flash, Mao Mao sprinted into the house, brandishing Geraldine. Nobody would dare harm Adorabat as long as he…

He stiffened when he saw Badgerclops, his back to the bristling cat and the saw extension of his robot arm out, standing over Adorabat laying on the ground. Mao Mao just had enough time to register the red on the floor before he started screaming. He himself could not make out if he was actually screaming any words, or just hollering at whatever was unfolding in front of him. 

Adorabat bolted upright as Baderclops turned, quickly putting his saw away. Adorabat was the first to speak over Mao Mao’s yelling, “I’m okay! It’s fake blood!”

“Yeah please calm down dude, stop screaming oh my god, you’re hurting my ears.” Badgerclops held his hands up as he continued, “She’s totally fine.” 

Mao Mao staggered back for a second as he stopped screaming, then surged forward to scoop Adorabat up in his arms and look her over himself. Badgerclops stood off to the side, waiting patiently until Mao Mao finally spoke, “What. On. EARTH. Were. You. Doing?” 

“Well, okay. So the thing is-” Baderclops starts, but Adorabat is quick to cut him off. 

“We’re in charge of the haunted house this year! Every year they always just like have peeled grapes and a bunch of baby stuff so I REALLY wanted to make it scary so we were just practicing…!” She spoke in such a rush, Mao Mao was left more than confused. He looked to Badgerclops for more of an explanation, but he was looking over a blueprint sitting on the coffee table. 

“Yeah, but I think we might of went a little too scary there, Adorabat. Maybe we should reconfigure the layout and rework some of the rooms. I don’t want anyone to die in the house.” 

Adorabat flies out of Mao Mao’s arms and over to the table. “Nooo! It HAS to be super duper scary!” 

Mao Mao was left standing stunned as he watched his two deputies pull out different crayons and start scribbling on the papers scattered about the living room. He shook his head slightly, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. After a few minutes, he managed to speak.

“A haunted… What?? Why would we…” He shook his head again. 

Badgerclops looks up as Adorabat grabs the paper from him and begins to draw furiously on it. “Huh? Dude haven’t you been paying attention? Halloween is coming up.”

Adorabat bolts upright, grinning. “Yeah!! Everyone in the valley usually goes all out with decorations and costumes… And oh! We’ll be able to carve pumpkins!!! I’m gonna make mine have big fangs and… and…” Adorabat trails off, thinking, before grabbing another sheet of paper and starting to sketch out presumably her jack-o-latern’s design. 

Mao Mao pauses. He’d admit it had been a few weeks since he looked at the calendar. But even then, he didn’t even consider a holiday coming up. His remembers come celebrations going on this time of year when he and Badgerclops traveled around, but he never thought much of it. His family never did anything… 

He blinks suddenly and looks up over at Badgerclops, realizing that he hadn’t said anything for a hot minute. Sure enough, Badgerclops was watching him with slight concern. Mao Mao pulled his ears back for a moment, trying to collect himself. 

“I see. I just wasn’t expecting us to do anything… Too big.” He admits. Badgerclops tilts his head for a moment, then gives his friend a small smile. 

“It’ll be fun, dude. Don’t worry. I think you’ll get a real kick out of it.” 

Mao Mao nods slowly, watching Adorabat draw on her sheet. She looks so excited… Mao Mao can’t help but feel like he should be getting ready for the holiday too. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all… 

He turns to head back to his meditation as he hears Badgerclops grab a different sheet of paper. “Adorabat! I told you we’re not using and bones from the bone hole!”

***

King Snugglemagne poses on his throne, tilting his head back slightly with a large smile. “I have called you here to personally invite you to my costume ball.”

Mao Mao frowns, lowering his sword. “Your highness, was that really worth hitting your personal alarm….?” 

“Yes, of course! I wanted to give you your invitation in person so I could see your faces of delight!” 

Mao Mao sighs slightly. “Of course. When will this ball be, your grace?” 

“Why All Hallows Eve of course! I’m very excited to see what costumes you all come in. With our kingdom constantly under threat from monsters, everyone is sure to be brimming with ideas!” Snugglemagne laughs slightly, then sighs. “So… So many monsters…” 

Mao Mao opens his mouth to respond, but gets pulled into Badgerclops’ side as his friend wraps his arm around him and speaks. “Oh we’ll totally be there! It should be super fun!” 

Adorabat squeaks as she starts jumping up and down. “Maybe we’ll all be dressed up as one big theme!” 

Snugglemagne claps his hands. “Oh how delightfully exciting! I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Now off you go!” Guards step forward and usher the trio out the door as Snugglemagne shouts to bring in the next subject to receive their invitation.

Badgerclops points to Adorabat as they start walking back to the aerocycle. “Okay but the group costume idea was stellar.” 

“Right?? We would all look so great!” Adorabat hums as she bounces along. 

Mao Mao frowns, hating to be the bearer of bad news, but… “Listen, y’all… As fun as that would be, I don’t think we’ll be able to go.” 

“Whaaaat? But Mao Mao…. Why can’t we??” Adorabat whines slightly, turning her big wet eyes up at her hero. 

“There’ll be too much going on. We’ll have to keep a constant patrol going to make sure no monsters slip in.” 

“Oh I’m seeing a monster already.” Badgerclops huffs, “And it’s you being a monster of a buzzkill right now.” 

Mao Mao scoffed slightly. “Badgerclops the safety of the valley is what should be most important…”

“Okay but the King’s gift bags are like. Full buffets. So.” Badgerclops spread his arms wide, as though his point had been completely proven. 

“It really is fun, Mao Mao!” Adorabat hums, grabbing his hand. Mao Mao looks down at her, frowning. 

“Well… I suppose it won’t hurt. But I’ll set up a schedule so I can duck out and make sure everything is in one piece.” Mao Mao smiles as Adorabat grips his hand harder, and starts babbling about what they should all dress as. 

***

The day had finally arrived. Adorabat could hardly sleep the night before, Mao Mao had heard her humming to herself in her bunk above him well into the night. But the next morning she didn’t seem tired at all, if anything she seemed to have even more energy.

The base looked wonderfully spooky, a good balance of being just scary enough. Besides, they had bought candy to give out at the end of the haunted house for any sweeties pies if the scares had been too much for them. 

They had the haunted house open during the day, and it seemed to be somewhat of a hit. A lot of the sweetie pies weren’t fans of how they had transformed the dojo into a giant spider’s nest, covered in webs with a mechanical spider that lowers from the ceiling. But honestly, Mao Mao had been so impressed how much Badgerclops had managed to do in such a short amount of time. It had been really hard not to get snippy with him about picking and choosing his chores but… Mao Mao had let it go because of the holiday. 

It had been hard not to get excited himself. Adorabat had drawn up costumes for them all to wear based on a video game that she and Badgerclops play together all the time. Adorabat dressed up as a princess with lots of really good powers, and she had excitedly explained to Mao Mao that his costume was based on the character that was her knight that was also really good at fighting monsters. Mao Mao had been so touched that he agreed instantly. Badgerclops was dressed as one of the side characters, a prince that was positive and always there to support the knight, and one of Badgerclops’s favorites. 

Once the sun set, the trio shut down the haunted house and hurried to the castle. The king had gone all out, everything was decorated to the max. Streamers curl around the pillars, there are at least five different fog machines in each room, and the lights all twinkle in colors of orange, purple, green, and white. There was music playing about different monsters and ghouls, each one with an upbeat dancing tempo. It was hard for Mao Mao not to be a little intimidated. Adorabat leads him through the crowd, explaining all of the different games to him. She did her best to make sure that Mao didn’t have any questions, which he found very thoughtful of her.

He wanders over to the food table and makes some small talk with a couple sweetie pies, admiring their handy work for their costumes. It was really fun trying to figure out who was dressed up as what… Mao Mao couldn’t help but find himself thinking about his own personal stash of outfits at home, and thinking about if any of those disguises would be best for next year. He pauses, noticing a crowd gathering around Badgerclops at one of the games, the one Adorabat had called bobbing for apples. Everyone seemed to be cheering his deputy on. Mao smiles as he grabs a couple cups of cider and heads over.

Mao Mao watches Badgerclops bob for apples, which he was surprisingly very good at. Badgerclops laughs lightly as he takes a cup of cider from Mao Mao once he’s finished. “It’s totally easy dude. I can teach you my strategy if you want.” 

Mao Mao blinked, then shook his head. “I don’t know…” He pauses when he heard Adorabat calling out to him from another table. He leaves Badgerclops to explain his tips to Honey and quickly made his way to his younger deputy. 

“Mao Mao come carve a jack-o-lantern with me! You’ll love it!” Adorabat bounces on her stool and she points to two pumpkins she picked out. “You cut it open and pull out all of the squishy guts and then you can carve whatever you want into it!” 

“Well, I am rather good with a blade,” Mao Mao hums as he sits, smiling as he watches how Adorabat opens her pumpkin. He carefully grabs one of the special tools on the table and gets to work. 

It’s genuinely really fun. Mao Mao laughs as he squishes the guts with Adorabat, and talks her through how he wants to design his pumpkin to look. He watches her excitedly draw on what she wants to do and grabs the knife to get started. 

“Okay Mao Mao… Are you ready?? Watch me!” Adorabat gives a little ‘hi-yah’ sound as she stabs into the pumpkin. Mao Mao grips the table, suddenly not feeling like himself. He stares at Adorabat for a moment, trying to pinpoint what feels off. 

He’s reminded of when he was a child… Constantly asking his dad to watch him… But… Why was there never any moments like this? Mao Mao would have loved this holiday when he was Adorabat’s age too… He would have had such fun carving with his sisters, wouldn’t he? So… Why was this kept from him? Wouldn’t his father have found the fun and perhaps even some lessons to teach through the games? How was bobbing for apples any different from some of the other training they did back then? 

Mao Mao blinks. Unless… The rest of his family did this without him. They wouldn’t have, would they…? Mao Mao would remember someone saying something about it… Even if it was after the fact… He stares at his pumpkin, desperately trying to remember. Was it kept a secret from him because… He didn’t deserve to have this kind of fun training back then? 

“Mao Mao?” Adorabat’s voice sounds far away, but Mao Mao still turns to look at her. “What’s wrong?” 

He blinks, trying to find words. “I… I was just… Ah. G-Good form, Adorabat.” 

“Dude, are you okay? You’re leaving claw marks on your pumpkin.” Badgerclops startles him, and he nearly falls off his stool. “Woah. Okay. So something is wrong here. Do you need some fresh air?” Mao Mao finds that Badgerclops’ arms are around him, and Adorabat is leading them through the crowd to an empty balcony. 

Even as the doors shut behind them, making the music from inside much softer and more muffled, Badgerclops doesn’t let go. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I… Uh.” Mao Mao still can’t seem to find words. 

“Are… Are you not having fun?” He blinks, looking down at a worried Adorabat. 

“No! I mean… I am having fun.” His voice cracks, but he doesn’t stop talking as he reaches out to her. “I’m having so much fun. I just… I guess I’m wishing that I had known about this holiday before now.” 

Badgerclops hugs him a bit closer in understanding as Adorabat runs into his arms. “Well... “ She says softly, “I’m really glad that I got to share your first Halloween with you! Hopefully that helped make is special.” 

Mao Mao pauses, then smiles as he hugged her tightly, enjoying the feeling of her presence and Badgerclops’s warmth around him as he responds, “You’ve made it more special than you realize.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh this was so fun!! I hope it had everything you wanted and more! Thank you so much!  
Shout out to @maomaosmother for putting this together!! (And being a super amazing beta reader ahhh!!)


End file.
